Treat this spoonable dessert as a vehicle for piles of your favorite peak-season fruit. Swap out nectarines for plums, peaches, cherries, or blackberries. Using a food processor makes the ricotta ultra smooth and airy.
Recipe information
Yield
6 servings
Ingredients
1
2
⅓
½
½
1½
2
Preparation
Step 1
Pour ¼ cup cold water into a small saucepan and sprinkle gelatin evenly over; let sit 10 minutes to soften.
Step 2
Meanwhile, coat a 9"-diameter pie or cake pan with a thin film of oil; set aside. Combine ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and 1 cup half-and-half in a food processor.
Step 3
When gelatin is softened, add remaining ½ cup half-and-half to saucepan and set over low heat. Cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until gelatin is completely dissolved (do not let mixture boil). Scrape mixture into food processor and process until completely smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour into prepared pan and chill until set, at least 4 hours (cover loosely with plastic wrap after 1 hour).
Step 4
Run a butter knife or small offset spatula around sides of panna cotta to loosen the edge and break the suction.
Step 5
Fill a baking dish or similar vessel with hot water. Lower bottom of mold into water 5 seconds, then lift it back out.
Step 6
Press a serving plate firmly over top. Quickly invert in one motion; set plate down. Use knife or spatula to gently lift up mold.
Step 7
Top with nectarines; drizzle with honey and oil.
Step 8
Do Ahead: Panna cotta (without nectarines, honey, and oil) can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
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Reviews (15)
Back to TopI see many questions here about the gelatin not setting up. I wanted to make the panna cotta and found it specifically to use ricotta, I looked on ATK. They have a video about the science of gelatin and some additional tips about the method and the order of mixing the ingredients. The chef also mentioned MEASURING the gelatin, instead of just adding the contents of the pkg. I don't like it when ppl post a review before making a recipe but I wanted to jot these observations first. I hope it will help & that I'm able to add my review of the outcome after making this- as it sounds so good!
Liz
Seattle WA
8/17/2023
My panna cotta didn’t set up very well. Do I need to cook the gelatin mixture longer or maybe at a higher temp before combining with the other ingredients? I liked the flavor. It was creamier than I expected — almost tasted like whipped cream. I love nectarine season so this was fun to make! I just wish the texture would’ve worked out better.
Anzley Bieri
8/2/2022
I've made this cake a few times with varying ingredients. I have to say that the ricotta that you use makes a big difference. I found that generic ricotta that you can find in any grocery store tends to be grainy no matter how long you blend it. (It was still enjoyable though) The few times that I did use more expensive specialty ricotta it was great and worth it (if you can manage to hunt some down)! Regarding the dairy. I found that I like the cake much more with whipping cream, it is much more creamer than half and half. This is such a great recipe and I can see making this throughout my life!
Anonymous
Vancouver, BC
11/25/2020
Just made this last night! Blended with a Vitamix on smoothie function and poured into individual dessert bowls. Topped with honey and pistachios because we had no berries or stonefruit in the house. We LOVED IT!!! Super smooth and fluffy; not grainy at all. Will definitely make this again!
Ceremony
Maine
4/7/2020
I loved this recipe. Yes, it did have a bit of a grainy ricotta texture (despite blending the mixture really vigorously in the Vitamix), but that was fine because I love ricotta. The sugar level was perfect -- most of the sweetness came from the honey drizzled on top.
Anonymous
San Francisco, CA
2/4/2019
Made it last night for a family dinner and it got rave reviews from a picky group. I used our delicious Colorado Palisade peaches and strawberries. Only thing i would do differently is use more fruit. Followed directions and panna cotta was not grainy at all...did use a high end ricotta though so maybe that made it creamier.
TheHosses
Denver Colorado
7/30/2018
I liked this, and it was reasonably easy to make, but everyone else in my family objected to the texture, even when forewarned it was ricotta (and all of them like ricotta). The flavor is mild and creamy and wonderful but the graininess imparted by the ricotta was not well received. I couldn't get good peaches so first let them sit in the honey a few hours, and I did not use olive oil, avocado oil to grease the pan and no oil for topping. I can't quite wrap my mind around olive oil and peaches. I would make it again, but a single serving size for me! And even less sweet, would reduce the sugar, and probably use cream not half and half. But for this go-round I did follow the recipe, except for the olive oil.
Anonymous
farther south than the south
7/30/2018